Glycosaminoglycan (hereinbelow, also referred to as “GAG”) is a compound present in a living body, and there are many examples in which glycosaminoglycan is used for a drug or a medical device. Currently, several techniques of applying a glycosaminoglycan derivative (hereinbelow, also referred to as “GAG derivative”) in which a drug is chemically introduced to GAG for application to a drug or a medical device are known (see, JP 4792294 B1 and WO 99/59603 A, for example).
There can be several objects for introducing a drug to GAG, i.e., (1) delivery to a target site is achieved by using GAG as a carrier, (2) the drug is maintained and released in an affected part by using polymeric GAG, and (3) the activity, pharmaceutical effect, or the like of GAG itself is utilized, or the like.
Although it can be applied to various kinds of disorders, depending on the type of a disorder, there can be a disorder which requires early release of a drug, a disorder which requires release of a drug for a long period of time, or a disorder which requires complex release rate that lies between them.